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IVIeph had a good idea at Hot springs. The neo tarp has 3 seams: the ridgeline seam (blue line) and a seam on each side that adds length (red lines).
He said it would be cool to rip the seams at the red lines creating a hex tarp. You could add a cat cut to the bottom edge where you just cut it, and since the other sides already have the cat cut you would end up with a camo MC style tarp. It would reduce the length on the sides but it would also go a long way in reducing the weight of the tarp. And the tarp is only like 30 bucks.

Last edited by headchange4u; 04-16-2007 at 22:50.

“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." -Terry Pratchett

IVIeph had a good idea at Hot springs. He said it would be cool to rip the seams at the red lines creating a hex tarp. You could add a cat cut to the bottom edge where you just cut it, and since the other sides already have the cat cut you would end up with a camo MC style tarp. It would reduce the length on the sides but it would also go a long way in reducing the weight of the tarp. And the tarp is only like 30 bucks.

I thought about that a while back, but to me it wouldn't solve that many problems. Especially when you can make a BlackCat for about $10 more and end up with better coverage and less weight. But then again I'm biased

It might not be a bad idea to add cat cuts to a HH hex, though. Probably come out with a pretty good end result that way...

"Physics is the only true science. All else is stamp collecting." - J. J. Thompson

sag or no sag, the HH stock tarp will be inadequate for the tropics. Tarps should be a foot or more higher than the hammock to provide adequate ventilation and wide enough to prevent windblown rain from reaching the hammock. A lighter color is preffered to reflect heat/sunlight (unless in a stealth camping mode).

My suggestion for cutting is really for those that already have the Neo. Otherwise, I think making your own from scratch would be better. My MacCat clone held up very nice this weekend. It stayed taut the whole time, even through the rain. I was actually surprised about that.

HUY, there are a lot of different tarps being discussed here. Experience has shown that by replacing the standard tarps that usually come with the hammocks with one of the following tarps you can increase your comfort zone around your hammock... YMMV.

The "stock" HH tarp is smaller than the others discussed so there are concerns there about coverage. It's also hard to cook/hang around under one of these in heavy rain, since the tarp basically covers just the hammock. That seems to be a subjective issue though. The Hennessy Hex tarp (pictured below) is an option, it's a much bigger tarp but not very light (it's not too bad though, IMO).

The 9x9 Gear Guide- (from Sportsman's Guide) - aka. "Neo" tarp is cheap, and camo, but has a lot of sag especially in wet weather. (BTW, I was also talking about making it into a little hex tarp by cutting off the corners. ) Headchange4U has also posted the link to this one.

The BlackCat is a fantastic tarp, made of silnylon with caternary cuts, which make it much more stable in heavy winds, and is very light. This is a tarp you can make yourself.

The commercial caternary cut silnylon tarp is the MacCat, and you can buy this already made.

why would you remove the bug netting from a HH or any other hammock? Why not just get a hammock w/out netting. Heck you could even get a Speer or Claytor Hammock and flip it over and let the bug netting hang down.